Table of Contents
Definition
Hybrid Infrastructure Testing refers to validating software systems that run across both virtual machine (VM) and Kubernetes environments. It ensures that applications, services, and tests operate consistently in hybrid setups where legacy infrastructure coexists with containerized workloads.
Why It Matters
Most enterprises are not fully cloud-native. They operate hybrid environments where applications span data centers, virtual machines, and Kubernetes clusters.
Without unified testing across these layers, teams risk:
- Inconsistent test coverage between VM-based and container-based systems.
- Environment-specific failures that appear only after deployment.
- Limited visibility into how hybrid components interact.
- Manual orchestration and high maintenance costs for test pipelines.
Hybrid Infrastructure Testing ensures that tests are portable, automated, and reliable across mixed environments, reducing friction as teams modernize their infrastructure.
How It Works
Hybrid testing integrates traditional test frameworks with Kubernetes-native execution. The goal is to centralize control and visibility while maintaining flexibility across environments.
Typical setup includes:
- Test Orchestration Across Targets: Tests run against both VM-based and Kubernetes-hosted services.
- Environment Abstraction: Kubernetes-native tools like Testkube provide consistent APIs for test execution, even when targeting hybrid endpoints.
- Cross-Environment Data Collection: Logs, metrics, and artifacts are unified for performance and regression analysis.
- Automated Triggers: Hybrid tests are initiated by CI/CD workflows or event-based triggers in either environment.
Real-World Examples
- A financial institution runs regulatory tests on on-prem VMs while executing performance tests on Kubernetes clusters in AWS.
- A SaaS provider validates its authentication microservice in Kubernetes while testing its legacy billing system on VMs.
- A platform team runs Testkube-based tests that target both Kubernetes APIs and VM-hosted services to ensure consistent functionality across environments.
Key Benefits
- Unified Visibility: Centralized reporting across hybrid test targets.
- Reduced Operational Complexity: One framework for both legacy and cloud-native validation.
- Accelerated Modernization: Enables gradual migration without breaking test coverage.
- Improved Reliability: Ensures consistent behavior across infrastructure boundaries.
- Compliance Readiness: Maintains validation across regulated and modern workloads.
How It Relates to Testkube
Testkube is a Kubernetes-native continuous testing platform, meaning tests execute inside Kubernetes clusters. However, it supports hybrid infrastructure validation through flexible integrations and test targeting.
In practice, Testkube can:
- Run tests within Kubernetes that target applications, APIs, or systems hosted on VMs or on-prem environments.
- Integrate with CI/CD tools, external APIs, or webhooks to trigger tests in non-Kubernetes systems.
- Centralize results and logs across hybrid test runs for unified visibility.
While Testkube does not natively orchestrate tests inside VMs, it enables hybrid testing workflows where the test execution layer runs in Kubernetes and the system under test spans both VMs and clusters. This makes it an effective solution for organizations modernizing incrementally toward cloud-native architectures.
Best Practices
- Design tests to be environment-agnostic whenever possible.
- Use centralized dashboards to track hybrid test results.
- Automate test triggers through CI/CD pipelines across both infrastructure types.
- Standardize configurations, data, and dependencies for consistent results.
- Combine hybrid testing with pre-flight and post-flight validation to cover full release workflows.
Common Pitfalls
- Duplicating test suites for different environments.
- Ignoring network or configuration differences between clusters and VMs.
- Treating hybrid testing as manual or siloed.
- Failing to centralize logs and results across systems.